Among basidiomycete molecules, cell wall polysaccharides have been recognized as a major class of bioactive constituents. [1] They are safe molecules and they have a wide spectrum of biological activities, such as immunostimulatory and antioxidant, therefore they possess a prominent role in health benefits coming from mushroom consumption. These properties make mushroom polysaccharides potential candidates for nutraceutical applications and bioactive ingredients production. [2]
Fractionation of the hot aqueous extract of Cortinarius caperatus led to isolation of two fractions characterized by spectroscopic analyses (1H-NMR, 13C-NMR, DEPT, 1H-1H COSY, DQCOSY, TOCSY, HSQC, HMBC and HMQC), mass spectrometry (EI-MS, ESI-MS), infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), chemical reactions of hydrolysis and derivatization followed by GC and HPLC analyses. [3] This mycochemical study revealed a water-soluble fraction characterized as a \u3b2-(1\uf0e06)-D-glucan, whose presence inside C. caperatus has never, to the best of our knowledge, been reported before. Moreover, a water insoluble fraction purified has been characterized as a branched \uf061, (1\u21926) glucan which structure is assumed to be:
[\u21926)-\u3b2-D-Glcp(1\u21926)]4-\u3b1-D-Glcp(1\u21924)-\u3b2-D-Glcp(1\u2192
6
\u2191
1
\u3b1-D-Glcp
The antioxidant activity of the soluble polysaccharide fraction has been evaluated as radical-scavenging activity with the DPPH test, the \u3b2-(1\uf0e06)-D-glucan showed significative antioxidant activity
